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thescreamsleuths · 4 years

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Recap 10: Vanishing Act

We last left off with the three ladies of the Scream Sleuths being ushered into the grandiose Barmitelli mansion and up to a sitting room on the third floor. There, they were asked to sit and recount what had happened at the festival.

The three refused to sit and were doing their best not to comply with Spyros Fig’s interrogation. Spyros was quickly shut down by both Faylen and Kathra. Faylen chose only to speak to Carric Holimion, the Elf that had healed the party and others only moments before arriving in the sitting room while Kathra directed all of her questions to Captain Scott. Information was shared by both the party and the authority figures. During conversation, the group learned that Carric was devouted to the deity Aureon and was the primary cleric at the Pinnacle of Crying Souls, Relttic’s main hub for religion and guidance. Faylen asked him what he thought of the feather test she’d witnessed in Avandra’s temple to which he admitted the day’s events felt like only the beginning. Faylen also told Carric of the strange gargoyle she’d seen atop Lady Avashira’s manor. Captain Scott immediately called for some of his guards to investigate the scene to see if they could find this mysterious figure.

In conversation, the Scream Sleuths also revealed that they’d investigated the brutal murder of the prisoner a few days back with Captain Scott. This produced a strong reaction from Spyros and Carric. The group quickly realized that Carric was not aware of the events.

After a terse back and forth between Carric and Spyros, the conversation died down. Using a spell Kathra was all too familiar with, Carric sent a message to an unknown source requesting their assistance with the identification of the battle scene. He then followed that message up with an inquiry to what seemed like an accountant asking about payment for the Scream Sleuths heroic deeds. It wasn’t until Carric mentioned there were three party members that the Scream Sleuths fully realized that Baelsar was not with them.

Immediately, Faylen exited the sitting room and entire estate in order to find their missing party member. Kathra and Brinne hung behind, correcting Carric’s math. They, too, were about to head out when Lady Evangelina quickly stopped them to ask about a war they’d mentioned they were going off to fight earlier. Kathra summarized the war occurring in the Stiffpeak Mountains: it was Orcs against Elves, something that had been going on for generations. Lady Evangelina seemed surprised by this. She asked Carric to confirm this news and then asked if he thought the war could somehow be tied into her family’s history. Curious, Kathra asked Lady Evangelina to elaborate, which she readily did.

The portrait of the Human the party had seen earlier that day was of a man named Chamberlain, one of Lady Evangelina’s ancestors. He was a brave and generous adventurer, one that fought off something truly horrendous with his adventuring party. Lady Evangelina pulled out a sketch then and showed the image to Kathra and Brinne. The parchment had yellowed over the years, but still kept a well drawn portrait of six individuals intact (whether by magical means or natural, Kathra and Brinne didn’t know) with initials below each party member. The image showcased a younger Chamberlain with the initials C.B., a male red Teifling with the initials E.T., a female copper Dragonborn with the initials R.S., a male Elf with the initials T.N., a female Halfing holding a holy symbol with the initials O.L., and a male green Dragonborn with the initials M.L. Lady Barmitelli had tried to identify Chamberlain’s party members but had a difficult time doing so. Most of what they knew about Chamberlain were stories his children and grandchildren wrote down after hearing his tales. Chamberlain himself wrote very little. From his notes, the Barmitelli family was able to uncover that the male Teifling, E.T., was killed during one of the group’s many quests. After they’d lost a party member, the group seemed to dissolve. Chamberlain and the Elf, T.N., banded together to hunt down some incredible beast, most likely to avenge their fallen friend. Intrigued, Kathra asked if any of the party members happened to be bards. Lady Evangelina thought for a moment before nodding —there had been three magic users in the party, the Elf, T.N., the copper Dragonborn, R.S., and the Halfling, O.L.. From what the Barmitelli’s gathered, the two women of the group both contained healing magics. However, in Chamberlain’s very limited notes, he had written about the Elf, T.N., keeping a daily journal detailing the group’s travels. The Barmitelli’s had been trying to locate the journal for years but were unable to find it.

Having asked all of the questions the two had at the moment, Kathra and Brinne began to head out to catch up with Faylen. Before they took their leave, Lady Evangelina told the two that if she could do anything to help the Scream Sleuths find a peaceful solution to this war, she would. She offered up her guest house for the party to stay in whenever they pleased. They thanked her before exiting the mansion.

While Kathra and Brinne were speaking with Lady Evangelina, Faylen was outside looking for any traces of Baelsar. It took her a few moments before she found a package, a letter, and a familiar shield leaning up against one of the wooden sides of their cart. Faylen quickly examined the strange parcel before opening up the note. As she began to read it, tears started to stream down her face. Her eyes grew red with anger and disappointment while her mind started to process what exactly the words on the note meant: Baelsar was heading back to Acrollu.

Clutching the note, Faylen cried to herself, stroking Ievos for support. This was how Brinne and Kathra found her, curled up in the cart sobbing into her wolf’s fur. The two immediately asked what was wrong which led to Faylen reading Baelsar’s letter aloud. Kathra and Brinne were stunned. More so Kathra, who was certain that Baelsar would return the next morning after having a dramatic exit. Brinne and Faylen weren’t so sure about that.

For a few moments, the three ladies went back and forth. They tossed blame and tried to surmise what specifically made Baelsar decide to leave. Eventually they decided that a letter was simply not enough. They were going to find him and get the answers they felt they deserved.

With Ievos taking the lead, the Scream Sleuths began to case for their missing member. They stumbled back onto the scene of the battle to note people cleaning up the mess as well as investigating the area. Within the shadows of Lord Edson’s ruined manor the group spotted a familiar figure overseeing the hunt for hints of the arcane. The three quickly approached Zolmer, only hesitating briefly as to why he was wearing such a heavy, over-sized cloak. They asked him if he was able to locate creatures, and if he was would he be willing to locate Baelsar. Zolmer agreed and after casting the spell pointed the Scream Sleuths in the right directions.

The Scream Sleuths hopes into their cart and were quickly off. It didn’t take too long before the group spotted a tall, red scaled figure walking alongside a young Human man on the side of the road. The Scream Sleuths quickly pulled the cart to a stop before Faylen launched herself at Baelsar. He’d turned around just in time for Faylen’s fist to connect with his jaw.

What followed next was a very meaningful and powerful conversation between Baelsar, Faylen, Kathra, and Brinne. Feelings and thoughts were shared, as were opinions about themselves and other party members. In the end, the ladies of the group were able to accept Baelsar’s decision to move on, whether they thought it was the right decision or not.

The full party embraced one last time, holding each other while crying, all the while knowing the moment would eventually end. Slowly, Baelsar retracted from the group hug and gathered his things. He rejoined his travel companion and let his feet take him in the opposite direction, all the while leaving his heart behind with his adventuring party. What remained of the Scream Sleuths watched their four member leave through red, blurry eyes. They sat in their smaller embrace while Baelsar’s figure grew smaller and smaller on the horizon until he was no longer visible.

Unsure what to do, the smaller party sat in silence for a bit. Eventually they decided to turn back to Relttic to clean the pungent cheese and hardening frosting off of their clothing and out of their hair.

Exhausted and overrun by their own emotions, the group returned to the city. They were planning to head back to Kathra’s guild but decided to stop quickly at the armory that Baelsar commissioned his shield at when they first arrived in Relttic. Faylen stayed by the cart outside the establishment while Kathra and Brinne entered the stop. Kathra wanted Baelsar’s shield to be turned into a breastplate for her to wear and wanted it executed quickly. The artisan working their was hesitant to take Kathra’s request —he wouldn’t be able to meet the deadline Kathra was requesting until something changed his mind.

A woman standing towards one of the shelves in the shop magically convinced the artisan to accept Kathra’s request. He did so, and accepted the three platinum pieces she also slapped down upon the counter. Kathra immediately took a liking to this woman. She’d had such a hard, emotional day. It was nice to see that there were people out there who were willing to help out someone in need without asking for anything in return. The woman introduced herself as Filiadel and immediately recognized Kathra and Brinne as the ones who took down the food monsters only an hour or two ago. Brinne found herself suspicious of Filiadel, but she couldn’t quite figure out why.

With the commission accepted and paid for, Kathra and Brinne headed back to the cart. They introduced Filiadel to Faylen who also was immediately suspicious of this new stranger. Faylen got the sense that Filiadel wanted something from them, and was curious to know what it was.

When the three Scream Sleuths decided it was time to return to Kathra’s guild and clean themselves up, Filiadel spoke up. She had a means of giving the ladies a private place to bath and relax after their stressful day. It took some convincing but eventually the Scream Sleuths agreed to follow Filiadel.

Filiadel led the group just outside of Relttic where she used an incantation on one of Kathra’s collected stones to conjure a three stories stone tower. The group was surprised by the sight and, after giving it a few good taps to make sure it was real, entered into the conjured building. Filiadel led Kathra up to the washroom and built in sauna before heading back down the ladder to where both Faylen and Brinne stood, awaiting her return. Both soldiers had their eyes on Filiadel, ready to ask their questions and, if needed, force their answers.

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shepline · 4 years

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Icing... #Icing #StiffPeaks (at Bicester Zoo) https://www.instagram.com/p/B6YhHubniI1--i3vFDyMjuitmSYiDFrOjuTDLQ0/?igshid=qg6u679rruj1

#icing #stiffpeaks

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earthfoodandfire · 7 years

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Working on a little something sweet for this Wednesdays recipe post! I don't generally do alot of dessert but once in a while a treat is deserved isn't it!? #dessert #eggwhites #stiffpeaks #canadianfoodbloggers #canadasfoodisland #fbcigers #inthekitchen #fromscratchbaking #freshfruit #summer #sodelicious

#dessert #fbcigers #canadianfoodbloggers #freshfruit #eggwhites #summer #canadasfoodisland #fromscratchbaking #sodelicious #inthekitchen #stiffpeaks

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theoldscreamsleuths · 5 years

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Character Encounter: Faylen Vathyra

“Oh, hello!

My name is Faylen and this here is Ievos, my wolf companion. I grew up north in the Stiffpeak Mountains with my mother, father, and three older brothers in Di’Sow, our Elven stronghold. The Orcs up there have been trying to take our home for as long as we can remember --it was hard growing up in a war zone. My father was the general and my brothers fierce warriors. As you can see by the longbow on my back, I could hold my own in a fight; however, my talents lied more in the tactics of it all. After all, I’m a Ranger, not a Fighter. I was captured the one time I was out in battle and imprisoned at an Orc camp where I met a Half-Elven Cleric, Ievos. Yeah, he’s the one I named my wolf after. Together, we managed to escape, but not before enduring horrific things together. In the aftermath of it all, he taught me about his Goddess, Avandra, and all she does. So when I started having vivid nightmares about my time as a prisoner, traveling to her temple seemed like the best option to clear my head and find some answers. The thought of leaving my family and the Stiffpeaks was one I never thought I’d have. I didn’t really want to go, but my screams in the night ended up hurting my family more than helping them. So I took off. On my journey down and out of the Stiffpeak Mountains, I came across my wolf friend. He helped guide me to the foot of the Stiffpeaks, and continues to help guide me to this day. He and I are the best team --he is my best friend. For a while is was just Ievos -wolf Ievos- and I. Then I bumped into Kathra, and soon after, Baelsar and Brinne. I found myself a new family, one that I could take on the road. They all have done so much for me, including bringing me back to life when I fell in battle. So when I reached the temple in the bustling city of Relttic, I decided to devote myself to Avandra’s teachings and become a Cleric in her name. I needed to learn to heal and protect my new family as they had done for me.

But don’t worry, I’m not setting my longbow aside just yet. After all, Avandra favors the wanderer. Which is exactly what I’m doing now... wandering. Maybe I’ll just find something along the way.”

#original character #dungeons and dragons #d&d 5e #5e #dnd 5e #dnd character #elf #mountain elf #ranger #ranger class #ranger 5e #dungeons and dragons character #animal companion #beast master #avandra #original world #first campaign #dorinitos #wolf

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fluffythings · 4 years

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What I do for my kids 💪 #weekend #eggwhites #stiffpeak #manual #whisk #exercise #stayhome #getready https://www.instagram.com/p/CAgrp3mHx64/?igshid=n4tzld6qfjn3

#weekend #eggwhites #stiffpeak #manual #whisk #exercise #stayhome #getready

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maryelizabethscreations · 7 years

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Stiff peaks #swissmeringuebuttercream #swissmeringue #meringue #buttercream #stiffpeaks #cake #cakes #cakedesign #cakedesigner #cakeart #cakedecorator #cakeartistry #food #foodporn #foodies #foodgasm #foodpic #foodart #foodblog #foodblogger #foodphotography #baking #baker #instabake #recipe #recipes #recipesoftheday http://ift.tt/2xZvn2w

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thescreamsleuths · 4 years

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Recap 11: A New Friend

Immediately upon entering the lounge again, Filiadel was verbally pounced on by Faylen and Brinne. Both had gone into full soldier mode and wanted to know what Filiadel wanted from them. Through conversation and multiple questions, Filiadel revealed that she was an entertainer who’s performance earned a target on her back. She’d been fleeing the south of Farthene, trying to put enough distance between herself and the wealthy individual she’d clashed heads with. She didn’t know if she was being followed. If she was, she knew she needed protection. When she’d seen the Scream Sleuths taking down the ginormous cake monster, she was impressed and knew they would make for good body guards. Though she was capable of defending herself, it didn’t hurt to have some extra muscle alongside her.

The Scream Sleuths took turns using Filiadel’s facilities while questioning more of Filiadel’s motives and background. They learned that she had quite the knowledge on some of the monsters on Kathra’s list, which immediately piqued Kathra’s interest. This then led to a discussion about where the group should go next. If they headed north to Di’Sow, Faylen could check on her family and the group could potentially see about helping with the war. If they headed south, they’d be able to check a few things off of Kathra’s list, but may be putting Filiadel in danger. The third option was to stay in Relttic and see if anything else weird happened.

Eventually, the group decided on a direction. They didn’t want to head all the way south because they did need to pick up their order of arsenic and poison from Ysabelle in a few weeks. The group settled on heading to Kathra’s hometown of Zyoreia to check on her great, great, great, great, great, great, great grandfather. That way, by the time the group returned they could pop over to Acrollu and pick up their package. Perhaps while they were there, they could say hi to Baelsar too.

With a final plan decided upon, the group bunked down for the night.

The next morning the crew awoke to the gentle pitter-pattering of rainfall. The sky was overcast and mist eclipsed the horizon from view. The previous night, the group had joked about fighting Filiadel come morning to see just how well she could handle herself, but after seeing the weather decided the table the skirmish for another time.

With everyone well rested and squeaky clean, the group set off. They first headed back into Relttic to kill some time at the citadel before Kathra was due to pick up her newly crafted breastplate. At the citadel, Faylen tried to do some more research on the war in the Stiffpeaks but only uncovered what she’d already learned or knew. Filiadel explored the large building while Brinne followed closely behind. The two ran into Vanity who spoke briefly to Filiadel before asking Brinne where his handsome Dragonborn had gone. Brinne opted not to answer and instead pulled Filiadel back to where Faylen was reading.

Meanwhile, Kathra had gone off on her own quest. Escorted by Vanity, Kathra went to speak with Zolmer. She wanted to get something off of her chest.

Kathra was led to an empty room containing one mysterious door. Upon opening the door, she came face to face with a very narrow hallway, completely void of light. She stepped into it cautiously and navigated her way through. It was disorienting —she felt as if she was going down underground, but knew that the angle of the floor had not changed.

Eventually, the corridor did end, revealing a plain door leading into what Kathra assumed was another room. Kathra took a moment to knock before she heard movement from the other side of the door.

When the door opened Kathra was nearly blinded by the sheer amount of natural light in the room. When her eyes finally adjusted, Kathra couldn’t quite believe what she was seeing. Bookshelves lined the walls while desks were piled high with papers, tomes, and vials. A familiar neon green iguana sat upon the mass of papers while light filtered through large glass windows. The natural light cut through the glass and was immediately projected upwards towards the ceiling. Through the windows Kathra could see what looked like... a beach scene? Palm trees, sand, and gentle waves seemed to roll up onto the shore. Holding the door open, was a surprised Zolmer.

Zolmer ushered Kathra in and listened as she apologized for making assumptions about him. He seemed to be used to it, being the only Drow in Relttic. Kathra then asked Zolmer an odd question: could she have a quart of his blood? Zolmer declined her request as politely as he could and asked why she specifically needed his blood. Kathra replied, saying she needed it for a spell but Zolmer remained weary of the request.

Just as Kathra was about to head out, she caught the glimpse of a carved out teleportation circle on the floor. She quickly inquired about it and asked if Zolmer could operate it. When he informed her that he could, Kathra asked if he’d be willing to transport her and her companions to one of their desired destinations. When Zolmer agreed, Kathra took off to tell the rest of her party.

The party was excited and surprised to find out about the quick transportation option. The Scream Sleuths decided to take Zolmer up on his offer, but before heading off they needed to find a safe place to store their horses and wagon. Their thoughts turned to Lady Evangelina and her guest house.

A few minutes later, the party was knocking on the door to the Barmitelli mansion, asking to speak with the lady of the house. Lady Evangelina offered to keep the party’s horses and cart in her stables and also gave them the address to her guesthouse, something the Scream Sleuths had forgotten to ask for previously. Faylen also made a point to ask Lady Evangelina if she could do some research for her: Faylen was curious if Lady Evangelina could find anything on the war in the Stiffpeak Mountains or anything on an Elven man with the letters T-Y-R-C in his name. Lady Evangelina agreed to do what she could in regards to Faylen’s request.

With that, the Scream Sleuths headed back to the citadel. Kathra lead her party members (and Filiadel) to Zolmer’s study. The three experienced the same disorienting hallway before ending up in Zolmer’s interesting office space, nervous and excited to test out the new travel method.

Will the Scream Sleuths make it to Kathra’s hometown of Zyoreia or will they end up somewhere entirely different? Stayed tuned for the answer in our next recap!

#Dungeons and Dragons #dungeon master #Dungeons and Dungeons #dungeons #homebrew #dnd homebrew #homebrew 5e #dnd 5e homebrew #5e #dnd #dnd dice #dnd character #dice #roll the dice #world building #Tabletop Games #tabletop #roleplay #new character

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princefranky · 9 years

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Whip dem egg whites. #stiffpeaks

#stiffpeaks

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maryelizabethscreations · 7 years

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#IFTTT #Instagram

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thescreamsleuths · 4 years

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Sleuthing the Sleuths: Until the Butter End

Check out our brief chat below as we discuss our last session, Until the Butter End!

Carp A DM: How was it for your characters going from something like palm reading to such an intense battle only like 5 minutes later?

Dog Mom: It was like whiplash haha. Faylen didn’t even have her armor on. But It did get her thinking about letting her guard down, and never doing that again.

Raging and Confused: Well if you remember, Brinne/Player Me were on edge the whole time... I didn’t trust the happy situation and I felt like it was a perfect opportunity to individuals with... bad motives to hurt a lot of innocent bystanders. Did I think the attack was going to be based on food? No

Carp A DM: Yeah that’s true, Brinne had not let her guard down the whole time. When did you guys realize that the battle would not be a piece of cake (pun intended)? How is everyone doing in the aftermath of the battle?

Dog Mom: I realized how hard it would be when it was healing itself and I couldn’t even get close enough to those down to cast anything more than healing word. Faylen is feeling... okay. I’m not sure she’s had enough time to think about her reaction to the whole experience— she went right into soldier mode when the authorities showed up.

Raging and Confused: Yeah, it was real rough when I realized that any damage I was taking was also being dealt to Baelsar and Fay when they were being held by the thing... and yeah, post battle there hasn’t been a lot of time to even think about what happened, which is pretty obvious in that I didn’t even realize Baelsar wasn’t with us in the room

Carp A Dm: Yeah, it was an incredibly rough time for our melee combatants. After being nearly wiped out by dessert, do your characters still feel ready to willingly join the war going on in the Stiffpeak Mountains?

Dog Mom: Faylen was always only semi-ready. She never thought they were going to end the war and tried to reiterate that to her team. She really just wants to check on her family, but it’s not an urgent thing either.

Raging and Confused: I think Brinne still feels ready to go off and fight, but she’s more worried than ever now about the rest of the party...

Carp A DM: Deciding what you guys want to do next is definitely going to be a whole group decision. Backing up to before the battle, you guys were presented with four different manors to visit: one of stone, one with a bee on it’s crest, one familiar to you, and one very odd. Did your characters want to explore the others?

Always Be Thievin’: Absolutely. Baelsar first and foremost wanted to rummage around Edson's place, but that didn't pan out well. He would've done so in the other manors if given the opportunity, but he did agree that they'd only spend a little bit of their day there so they could travel north with the rest of their day

Hi, it’s Kathra: Kathy is still ready to go north to fight the war. Though she believes it’ll be more through negotiations and/other military tactics (such as covertly taking out the general of the orcs) The battle was rough with people going down but while Kathy is mindful of what happened she also really believes in our team. And she really believes that we can make a difference. She’s feeling more optimistic, especially after the group tension from a couple days ago.

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